Aircraft storage hangar

ABSTRACT

A lightweight hangar for the storage and maintenance of aircraft having a plurality of cantilever beams supported on vertical columns with the cantilever beams extending beyond the columns to support floor beams for an upper storage area. Roof support members are secured to the vertical columns and the end of the cantilever beams. Trackless doors are suspended from the cantilever beams by means of cables connected to the doors on a line through the center of gravity of the doors. Guide arms are connected between the doors and the cantilever beams. A rod passes through each door and is connected to the arms to move the arms in synchronism. Door stops are provided at the top and bottom of each door.

O United States Patent [151 3,673,749 Allen 1 July 4, 1972 54 AIRCRAFTSTORAGE HANGAR FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor: Julian 11.Allen, 3700 Strathmoor Drive, 747,957 6/1933 France ..49/197 Dayton,Ohio 45429 1,048,735 1/1959 Germany ..119/16 Filed y 19 1970 305,9813/1955 Switzerland ..49/197 g [21] App1.No.: 38,676 PrimaryExaminer-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Henry E. Raduazo [52] U S Cl52/73 49/197 49/198 Attorney-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Richard J.Killoren 49/200, 52/69, 52/236 57 STR CT [51] Int. Cl. ..E04b 1/34, E04b1/342, E05d 15/40,

E05d 15/48 A lightweight hangar for the storage and mamtenance of am 58Field of Search ..49/200, 197, 199; 52/69, 73 craft having a Pluralityof qamilever beams supnorted on vertical columns with the cantileverbeams extending beyond the [56] References Cited columns to supportfloor beams for an upper storage area. Roof support members are securedto the vertical columns UNITED STATES PATENTS and the end of thecantilever beams. Trackless doors are suspended from the cantileverbeams by means of cables con- L98L166 11/1934 Dutiwefler" "119/16 nectedto the doors on a line through the center of gravity of 3,413,75712/1968 DavIdson.... .....49/2 the doors. Guide arms are connectedbetween the doors and 1,090,491 3/ 1914 Ogden --49/2 he cantileverbeams. A rod passes through each door and is 15941080 7/1926 Thles Xconnected to the arms to move the arms in synchronism. Door gomen atstops are provided at the top and bottom of each door.

ugger 3,074,518 l/1963 Conrad et al. ..52/73 X 2 Claims, 7 DrawingFigures PKTENTEDJUL' 41972 3, 673.749

sum 2 or 3 INVENTOR. Jill/4N 014:0

AIRCRAFT STORAGE HANGAR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The need exists forlow-cost hangars for storage and maintenance of aircraft in remoteareas. Such hangars must be lightweight and easily assembled. Acantilever type building of the general arrangement shown in the patentto Thies, US. Pat. No. 1,594,080 appears to be the most suitabledesign.However, this must be modified to provide more storage space. Doors forsuch buildings are of three major types: doors suspended from anoverhead track with guides on the lower edge; doors riding on a lowertrack having upper guides; doors which are raised by counterweights andwhich have side track guides such as Cornell et al., US. Pat. No.2,071,161. Doors which ride in overhead tracks or lower guides aresometimes difficult to operate due to alignment problems and snow, iceand dirt jamming the tracks. The doors with counterweights are usuallyvery heavy and require heavy tracks and vertical track supports.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention a low-costhangar which is easily constructed at remote sites is provided havingample storage space above the center section. The hangar has a pluralityof bays separated by support columns. Each column supports a cantileverbeam which has its end supported by a cable secured to the column. Thebeam extends beyond the column on each of the two sides and supports afloor support beam, for the storage area, between the beams attached totwo columns separating adjacent bays. Trackless counterbalanced doorsare supported by the two cantilever beams on the sides of each bay. Doorguide arms are made to 'move in synchronism thus making guide tracksunnecessary.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a hangar according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the hangar of FIG. 1 showing one possiblepositioning of airplanes therein;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of one building structural support memberfor the device of FIG. I;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partially cutaway sectional view of the device ofFIG. 1 along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the door support system for the device of FIG. 1 along theline 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows one door of the device of FIG. 1 in its partially openedposition; and

FIG. 7 shows one door of the device of FIG. 1 in its fully openedposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference is now made to FIG. 1 ofthe drawing which shows a hangar 10 having a plurality of plane storagebays 12 as shown schematically in FIG. 2. The bays are located betweenpairs of vertical columns 14. The vertical columns are located in tworows extending the length of the building, however, additional columnsmay be located between the columns shown to support the floor for theupper storage section if needed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair ofcantilever beams 16 are secured to each column by means of bolts 17. Anangle iron member 19 is secured to the free end of beams 16. A tie rod21 is secured by means of threaded end portions and nuts 23 to the angleiron 19 and the vertical columns 14 to support the cantilever beams 16.The inner ends of beams 16 extend beyond columns 14 to support a centralsupport beam 26 bolted thereto by means of bolts 27. Beams 26 arefurther supported by support brackets 30 secured in the same manner.Other means, than those shown, may be used for supporting beams 16 and26. Tie beams 32 extend between pairs of columns between two adjacentbays and are bolted thereto.

The angle irons 19 extend beyond the beams 16 as shown in FIG. 4 tosupport roof support beams 34. Roof support beams 36 are secured tovertical columns 14. The hangar is covered by roof members 38, 39, and40 which are constructed in any conventional manner and the particulartype of roof used forms no part of this invention. Windows, not shown,may be located in the space 41 between the roof members.

A plurality of doors 42 are partially supported on beams 16 by means ofarm members 44. The arm members 44 are secured to a rigid bar member 46which passes through the entire length of the door so that arm members44 on the opposite ends of each door move together and keep the doorfrom tilting. The use of members 46, which may be separate parts securedto arms 44 or parts of arms 44, makes the use of guide tracksunnecessary.

The doors are further supported by cables 48 which are secured to thedoors at 49 on a line which passes through the center of gravity of thedoors. The cables pass over pulleys 50 and are connected tocounterbalance weights 5.2. Thus, the cables 48 supply the main supportfor the doors and the arms 44 act to guide the movement of the doors andpartially support the doors in the partially opened position shown inFIG. 6 and the fully opened position shown in FIG. 7. Upper door stops54 are secured to beams 16 and lower door stops 55 are secured to thefloor. When flooring is not provided, the lower stops must be secured tothe ground. Floor planks 57 are supported on beams 26 to provide astorage area above the plane storage areas. Stairways 58, shownschematically in FIG. 2, may provide access to the upper storage area.The ends of the hangar are closed by walls 60 shown schematically. Wallmembers, not shown, for the upper storage area, can be secured to thecolumns 14.

While support rods have been described for supporting cantilever beams16, other known means could be used. Also the guides for the doors couldbe different than those shown. Any means for causing arms 44 to movetogether could be used, for example, the rigid member 46 could beconnected between the portion of arms 44 attached to beams 16.

There is thus provided a low cost hangar for the storage and maintenancewhich is lightweight and easily assembled which makes it suitable foruse in remote areas.

I claim:

l. A hangar structure for the storage and maintenance of aircraft,comprising: a plurality of vertical columns located in at least twoparallel rows extending the length of the hangar; floor support beamssupported a predetermined distance above the ground, between the columnsin rows perpendicular to said parallel rows; a plurality of floortimbers supported on said floor support beams for providing an upperstorage area; at least one cantilever roof support beam supported byeach of said columns; a covering, for the portions of the hangar underthe cantilever beams, supported by said cantilever beams and saidcolumns; a covering for said upper storage area supported between thecolumns in each of the parallel rows means, at the upper ends of saidcolumns, for tying the columns, in the rows perpendicular to saidparallel rows together; means for closing the ends of the hangar; aplurality of trackless doors, supported by the ends, of said cantileverbeams, remote from said columns, for closing the sides of the hangar; apair of cables attached to each of said doors with the attachments beingpositioned on a line through the center of gravity of the doors; saidpair of cables attached to each of the doors passing over pulleysattached to said cantilever beams and said columns and havingcounterbalance weights connected to the other ends thereof; a pair ofguide arms pivotably supported onsaid cantilever beams and pivotablyconnected to opposite ends of the doors; interconnecting means betweeneach pair of guide arms, for keeping the pairs of said guide arms insynchronism as the doors are raised and lowered to thereby keep thedoors in substantial longitudinal alignment in all positions; said meansfor moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of bars passingthrough the width of the doors and integral with the arms at oppositeends of the doors.

2. A hangar door assembly comprising; an overhead support structure; adoor member; a pair of cables attached to said door member with theattachments being positioned on a line through the center of gravity ofthe door member; said cables passing over pulleys attached to saidoverhead support and having counterbalance weights connected to theother end thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably, supported by said 5overhead support and pivotably connected to opposite ends of the door;interconnecting means between the guide arms, for

keeping said guide arm in synchronism as the door is raised and lowered;said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of abar passing through the width of the door and integral with the arms atopposite ends of the door.

1. A hangar structure for the storage and maintenance of aircraft,comprising: a plurality of vertical columns located in at least twoparallel rows extending the length of the hangar; floor support beamssupported a predetermined distance above the ground, between the columnsin rows perpendicular to said parallel rows; a plurality of floortimbers supported on said floor support beams for providing an upperstorage area; at least one cantilever roof support beam supported byeach of said columns; a covering, for the portions of the hangar underthe cantilever beams, supported by said cantilever beams and saidcolumns; a covering for said upper storage area supported between thecolumns in each of the parallel rows means, at the upper ends of saidcolumns, for tying the columns, in the rows perpendicular to saidparallel rows together; means for closing the ends of the hangar; aplurality of trackless doors, supported by the ends, of said cantileverbeams, remote from said columns, for closing the sides of the hangar; apair of cables attached to each of said doors with the attachments beingpositioned on a line through the center of gravity of the doors; saidpair of cables attached to each of the doors passing over pulleysattached to said cantilever beams and said columns and havingcounterbalance weights connected to the other ends thereof; a pair ofguide arms pivotably supported on said cantilever beams and pivotablyconnected to opposite ends of the doors; interconnecting means betweeneach pair of guide arms, for keeping the pairs of said guide arms insynchronism as the doors are raised and lowered to thereby keep thedoors in substantial longitudinal alignment in all positions; said meansfor moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of bars passingthrough the width of the doors and integral with the arms at oppositeends of the doors.
 2. A hangar door assembly comprising; an overheadsupport structure; a door member; a pair of cables attached to said doormember with the attachments being positioned on a line through thecenter of gravity of the door member; said cables passing over pulleysattached to said overhead support and having counterbalance weightsconnected to the other end thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably,supported by said overhead support and pivotably connected to oppositeends of the door; interconnecting means between the guide arms, forkeeping said guide arm in synchronism as the door is raised and lowered;said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of abar passing through the width of the door and integral with the arms atopposite ends of the door.